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A sweet spot for a day trip or leisurely weekend break from London or Brighton, Lewes punches well above its weight when it comes to artistic and historic clout – and the bounty of local Sussex produce makes great fuel for exploring.
17 February, 2021
Too often overlooked in favour of Brighton, its nearest and rowdiest neighbour, Lewes is a place that punches above its weight in the historic and artistic stakes. Royalist troops were famously defeated here in the Battle of Lewes in 1264. Anne of Cleves received a half-timbered house in her 1540 annulment from Henry VIII and, two centuries later, local lad Thomas Paine penned the Rights of Man, fuelling the Age of Enlightenment and inspiring the American Revolution. Fast forward to the 20th century and the Bloomsbury Group - Virginia Woolf, Vanessa Bell, Duncan Grant and co. - made this their rural stomping ground.
Today, Lewes is a well-to-do place, but one that's far more intriguing than it is trendy or snobby. Don't expect much in the way of small-plate restaurants, millennial-pink cafés, graffiti murals and boutique hotels decked out with jewel-toned velvets; this is a town that wears its idiosyncratic character on its sleeve. Walk along Cliffe High Street on a sunny Saturday and you'll pass Morris dancers, market stalls peddling Sussex produce and perhaps a few people chucking peas in a ditch - don't call the food-waste police; it'll be the local World Pea-Throwing Championship.
Aside from the town's bacchanalian Bonfire Night celebrations, when the local population quadruples in size, there's much to see and do along the narrow passageways that splinter off from medieval streets. Dip in and out of friendly watering holes and artisan cafés as you explore indie shops and historic points of interest. When you're done, the rolling chalk hills of the South Downs National Park are within reach - just a mile outside Lewes the Iron Age hillfort of Mount Caburn is an easy hike and offers spectacular views, but venture a little farther and you'll stumble upon the Cuckmere Valley and Seven Sisters.
Just over an hour's train ride from London Victoria and less than 15 minutes from nearby Brighton, Lewes is a sweet spot for a day trip or weekend break, and an essential pit-stop on a winding excursion along the South Coast. Get planning…
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